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Frontier Developments has been hard at work porting as much of Planet Coaster’s downloadable content (DLC) from PC to console as they can. So far, we’ve seen the release of the Vintage Pack, Worlds Fair Pack, Spooky Pack. Now, they have added the Studios Pack and the Ghostbusters Pack. Both DLCs have to be purchased separately. Yet, the following article is a review of both.
Planet Coaster is a theme park tycoon game where you build the best theme park you possibly can. It is similar to the classic RollerCoaster Tycoon series. However, it has a whole lot more packed into it. You can read our review on the Planet Coaster: Console Edition base game here.
The Studios Pack and the Ghostbusters Pack bring a huge array of new material for players to fiddle with. From walls to trash cans, to ghost projections, to new light fixtures. These DLCs have everything a movie fan could possibly want for a theme park.
Lights… Camera… ACTION!
The Studios Pack primarily draws inspiration from the Universal Studios parks and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. These parks allow guests to walk into their favourite movies and television shows. Depending on which park you go to, you could walk right onto working movie sets. The Studios Pack brings everything you need to create your own movie theme park. This includes studio buildings, facades to mask backstage areas, and new state-of-the-art attractions like the “Re-Motion” ride. (This ride is based on the real-life KUKA “Robo-Arm” ride system that Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey uses at Universal Studios.)
Who You Gonna Call?
The Ghostbusters Pack is themed to Sony’s popular Ghostbusters franchise. This DLC contains so much ghostly goodness that it may be a bit overwhelming for fans. You can create your own Ghostbusters park or attractions with all the new additions. As for myself, I created a movie studio park with a Ghostbusters land. This pack includes a new interactive shooting ride system that not only allows players to create it themselves. Once the system is complete, they can even play it and score points. The pre-built Ghostbusters park includes a shooting attraction. This is more amazing than the real-life Ghostbusters: Battle for New York at MotionGate Dubai.
Somehow, you are unable to place a pre-built version of Planet Coaster’s Ghostbusters Experience ride in any of your own parks. However, you can turn the Ghostbusters campaign park into a sandbox park.
The Ghostbusters Pack comes with everything you need to create Ghostbusters attractions. This includes a Slimer-themed rollercoaster, themed items such as the ECTO 1 car, a gigantic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man statue (or you can build one yourself using the individual pieces), and a selection of Animatronic Ghostbusters in a variety of poses. Thus, the pack is primarily based on the first film. A healthy selection of music has been added to use in the rides. This includes Ray Parker Jr’s Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA-winning theme song, Ghost Busters.
An E-Ticket Experience
I played Planet Coaster: Console Edition on the PS5 last year. This left me both overwhelmed and underwhelmed at first. I was overwhelmed because it was everything I had ever dreamed of when it came to theme park tycoon games. On the other hand, I was underwhelmed by how difficult it was. Getting used to the controls takes a lot of time. Even so, it’s still difficult to create what’s in your head. My biggest gripe with the series is that it’s tough to create decent-looking buildings on the console. Additionally, I still believe the game lacks an option to click and place a pre-built stage building. (Stage buildings are the warehouse containing the actual ride, usually hidden behind a facade matched to a theme).
Of course, I am just one person. A quick Google search will show you that many console players have mastered the controls. In fact, they have built some spectacular creations. The in-game store has the option to download player creators for free and use them in your own parks. I had everything in my park, from a recreation of Disneyland’s Peter Pan’s Flight to Hogwarts Castle looming in the distance, things I don’t have the chops to create myself.
I haven’t played Planet Coaster: Console Edition in a few months and had to ease myself back into the controls. After picking it back up, I actually had more fun than my first time around. Despite still struggling to build what’s in my head and some issues with controls, the game as a whole is still enjoyable to play. Having the option to add in movie elements helped me a lot since a studio park does not have to look that amazing.
Final Thoughts
The Ghostbusters Pack is mainly based on the first film. Elements from Ghostbusters 2 or Ghostbusters: Who You Gonna Call have been excluded. This is a bit of a shame as I would have liked the option to include the all-female team in my ride alongside the original all-male team. The pack does have a campaign. This tasks players with rounding up ghosts by Ray Stantz, voiced by Dan Aykroyd himself. The campaign is fun, giving you more to do outside of managing the theme park. Although, I can imagine most players would prefer to stick with the creation and management side of things.
The Studios Pack and the Ghostbusters Pack go hand-in-hand so breathlessly that I would highly recommend purchasing them together. This is probably why Frontier released the ports on the same day. These packs include such a plethora of new items for players, spoiling us for choice.
